


Sharpening Her Skills

by PastelRaccoon



Series: To Protect Her Treasure In the New World [2]
Category: Monster Hunter (Video Games)
Genre: F/F, Fluff, Gen, Hunter Training, They have names now!, Training, romantic undertones
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-09-28
Updated: 2019-09-28
Packaged: 2020-10-29 17:57:00
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,702
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20800595
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/PastelRaccoon/pseuds/PastelRaccoon
Summary: Kaguya swears to help protect her Hunter despite her not needing it. Azusa, however, doesn't have the heart to tell her otherwise and decides to help the Handler learn how to use a weapon instead.





	Sharpening Her Skills

Kaguya tightly gripped her newly smithed sword and shield within the silence of the training grounds. A large, beat up wooden pole that was planted firmly into the ground loomed over her and cast a large shadow into the trees.. She took a moment to steel herself before rushing the pole that became a monster stand-in. She swung as hard as she could muster, though the blade harmlessly slid across the wood without making so much as a scratch. An irritated whine came from her as she threw her hands up in frustration. However, the action elicited a wince from her as pain flared into her side from her previous run in with that Rathalos.

After saving her Hunter, Azusa, from that rather agitated Rathalos, she was incapacitated for longer than she would have liked. Yet this gave her a lot of time to think about what she could do to possibly help her more than just being her Handler. She came to the conclusion that she would learn to fight. Even if it was only the absolute basics. That way, she wouldn’t be a burden to her if the time came that she needed help again. Maybe she could even convince her to take her out on a hunt or two...

“You shouldn’t be here. You should be in bed.”

Kaguya yelped and reflexively dropped the sword and shield from the sudden voice coming from the entrance of the training grounds. There stood Azusa, arms crossed over her chest with a serious frown pulling on her mouth and her brow furrowed. She wasn’t in her usual Odogaron armor, but rather in the more comfortable looking leather armor since she wasn’t on a hunt. She lifted one of her hands to throw her long, silver hair back over her shoulder before crossing her arms again.

“H-How did you know I was here?” The Handler sputtered while still recovering from the surprise.

“I asked around. It wasn’t hard after you weren’t in your room. But that’s beside the point. You aren’t going to heal if you’re here swinging a sword around, even if it is small.” Her frown deepened when she started to march towards her Handler. She hurriedly scooped up the weapons and desperately held onto them in fear of her taking them away. Instead, once she was only a few feet away, she just stared her down with an intense gaze. “You had cracked ribs and nearly ruptured some of your organs, yet here you are. Moving around as if nothing even happened.”

Her dark gray eyes pierced through her; there was no anger there, but she could clearly see the deep concern and worry. That look alone made Kaguya’s shoulders slump with a sigh as she held out the sword and tiny round shield in her hands towards the Hunter in defeat.

“I just wanted to learn so if I needed to, I could help without getting injured again…” She could feel tears stinging at the corners of her eyes, but she refused to let the frustrated tears fall. “A-And maybe I could even go on a hunt with you someday…”

This time, it was Azusa’s turn to heave a sigh. She pinched the bridge of her nose before letting out a slight laugh as if she had been the one defeated. “I think I could see that you were practicing. But you aren’t going to learn if you keep reopening old wounds like you might be doing.” She paused briefly before sternly saying, “Let me see.”

“Huh?”

“I said, let me see. I want to make sure you didn’t actually start bleeding again.”

A slight blush dusted Kaguya’s cheeks a light pink before she reluctantly placed the weapon onto the ground again and pulled up the bottom of her cotton shirt. Fresh bandages were covering her slim abdomen. She wasn’t as muscular or toned as Azusa, but not exactly unfit either. Her Hunter knelt down in front of her to inspect the bandages and clicked her tongue against her teeth in thought. Her fingers gingerly brushed against the bandages and caused the other woman to reflexively flinch.

“Thank goodness you didn’t start bleeding again. I would have been beyond upset at you if you were.” Her face relaxed and she gave a relieved smile up at Kaguya before pulling her shirt back down over her stomach herself. The caring gesture made the Handler’s blush turn a bit deeper in color.

Kaguya shook her head clear it then pouted at Azusa. “But I still want to learn! I can’t help you out in the field unless I can defend myself! I can’t take being in the camp anymore!”

The Hunter ran a hand through her hair again, her frown returning, then stood up from where she was crouching. Another sigh came from her when she rubbed her forehead as if she had a headache. She went silent for far longer than Kaguya would have liked and she fidgeted in the awkward silence. 

_‘Maybe I was a bit too forward?’_ She wondered until Azusa exhaled loudly.

“If you want to learn, then at least let me help you.”

Kaguya’s face lit up with a beaming smile before she excitedly threw her arms around Azusa’s neck in an ecstatic hug. She had to stand on her toes a bit as she was a good deal taller than her. The affectionate action took the Hunter off guard before she awkwardly patted the back of the emotional Handler with a chuckle. “Hey now. No need for that. I’d rather you let me teach you than have you hurt yourself. Plus, if you so much as wince from what I am gonna teach you, I’m sending your ass right back to bed. You hear?”

She nodded furiously in response and plucked the weapon up from the ground once more. Kaguya’s deep hazel eyes sparkled with anticipation while waiting for her to give her instructions or retrieve a weapon of her own. Instead, Azusa stepped up to the worn down wooden pole and called her over with a wave of her hand. Her smile melted into a puzzled look before she made her way over to the awaiting Hunter.

“Stand right here.” She instructed and placed a hand onto her shoulder to guide her to the proper place. The Handler silently obeyed, hanging off of every word she was already saying and planting her feet firmly into the dirt. “Good. Now, I’m only doing this to help you familiarize yourself with the swings at first, okay? And also to make sure you don’t open your wounds.”

“Wha-?”

Before she could protest and ask what she meant, her arms came around her shoulders and braced themselves against her own. Her fingers wrapped around hers that was holding the shield and sword. She could feel her pressing close against her back. Heat rushed to her face from the almost intimate action, but she shook her head, causing her own long, brunette hair to sway. Now wasn’t the time to be distracted by something so trivial. She was here to learn. Nothing more and nothing less; and yet, she couldn’t help that her heart was beating a bit harder within her chest.

“To start, you should learn a few simple combos that can help you.” As if in slow motion, she began to guide her sword arm down and to the opposite side by her hip, forcing the blade into the wooden stand-in with her strong grip. Kaguya tried to focus on how her arm was moving and less on the fact she could feel Azusa’s muscles flexing against her own. Another shake of her head dispersed the intrusive thoughts. Again, she moved her hand to pull it back up and over to the side she started. “Once you slash down, you go for a swing across. Kinda like you’re making a ‘T.’”

The Handler nodded, trying to burn the imagery and movements of her muscles into her brain. The pounding of her heart and her wandering thoughts were definitely a bigger hurdle for her than anticipated. This didn’t deter the oblivious Hunter though.

“You then want to take a tiny step forward…” Azusa pressed her toes against her right heel and she slid her foot forwards. “Before bringing the blade down into another swing.”

She brought Kaguya’s sword over her head and directed the blade down. The sound of splintering wood was the only thing that filled the training grounds until her Hunter let out a small chuckle. “Yeah, just like that. You’re doing good so far, even if I am helping you through the motions.”

The Handler grinned wide over her shoulder towards the Hunter, but she was still staring intently at their hands and where she should guide them. All business and no fun. The sight caused a silent laugh to shake her shoulders. _‘That’s just like her… Straight to the point as always.’_

“You can also swing down the shield and bash forward. This can sometimes stagger a monster.” She continued in her rather no nonsense tone before swinging their hands down then bashing the shield to the wood with a solid thud. Her wrist ached from the force since she was not used to it and caused her to wince. Azusa immediately tensed; she could feel how her body went rigid against her back and along her arms. She quickly pulled her hands from Kaguya’s and stepped in front of her. The Handler frowned, but she did agree if she showed any sign of pain they would stop.

“I think we’re done here today.”

“Fair enough. I did learn a lot more in those few minutes than whatever the hell I was doing.”

Kaguya gave a warm smile that was quickly mirrored by Azusa. Seeing her smile like that only made her feel more confident, knowing that she’d soon be able to help protect the one person she cared about in all of the New World.

“Now, let’s get you back to bed! You shouldn’t have been out here in the first place! Don’t think I forgot that you sneaked out!”

_‘Shit…’_ Sometimes, however, she wondered who would protect her from her strict Hunter.

**Author's Note:**

> I ended up loving the soft dynamic I had between the nameless Handler and Hunter from my previous fic that I decided to keep going with them! [And I finally gave them names, pfft]  
I'm planning on them going after almost every monster eventually, so do keep an eye out for that if you enjoyed!


End file.
